At More-Athletic Body, this is what we do:

We place our focus where it matters, that's on what we eat, and on resistance training.

We eat in such a way that our bodies need to burn our energy supplies for energy, but due to all the resistance training we are doing, we cling onto our muscle and lose weight by shifting fat.

That's how we get ripped.

We have a clear plan to follow, which has us training for strength a few days per week, and has clear food improvements.

We have a clear, organised way of measuring progress.

We have a clear timeline to run our latest experiment.

Between experiments such as the 28-Day Challenge, we carefully think, analyse and re-plan.

We ask:

Did I do what I intended to do?

Did it work?

What are the easiest things I could improve next that would make the biggest difference?

How could I make it easier to follow my next plan?

Then we do it again.

Do that, and you'll lose a lot of fat, you'll tone your body and your abs will get so sculpted you'll even be able to see them through your t-shirt.

Get distracted, fail to be clear on where your focus is, have no clearly defined experiment and you'll most likely be on for years of frustration.